The sharp sunbeams unlid my eyes and my palms shielded them instantly. I am in the process of waking up after decades of sleep. You must be wondering, how can someone sleep for decades? Well, do you remember Sleepy from Snowhite and the Seven Dwarves? Yes, I am your very own Sleepy. If you ever want to find me, pay a visit to the Enchanted Forest. Now now, before wasting any precious time of yours let me tell you what I do when I wake up.
Every time I wake up, I go out into the world where humans do nothing but unleash their madness.
Now, I am awake and you are with me, let me take you into their world. Of course, I can’t talk to you and simultaneously engage with the human world, so I will give this narrative to a third party so she could be Watson to my Sherlock. I will talk to you later, Readers.
“Come on my Watson, let us see what these humans are up to,” said Sleepy. Sleepy walks quite quickly, it is hard to keep pace with them. Sleepy prefers to be addressed as they/them. They say “we should be conscious of pronouns these days and it is kind to ask the other entity what pronouns they prefer”. Sleepy looks around for folks. The road they walk on is not quite smooth, it has so many potholes. They spot a group of women holding placards in front of a building. It was red in colour. Some women wore a scarf, covering their heads while some wore it around their neck. They were filled with rage and were upset. Sleepy was a bit sceptical of approaching them because they were feisty women but Sleepy gathered courage and went up to them.
“Hello folks, I am Sleepy, may I know where I am ?”
The group of women who were chanting slogans and holding placards that said Hijab is our right were startled by Sleepy’s interference and also his appearance for a minute.
“Who are you?” asked a woman wearing a floral printed Hijab. “It doesn’t matter who one is, if someone is here they might as well join us and support us in questioning the unfair judgement the authorities have given,” said another woman before Sleepy would even respond.
“This constant meddling of men in power with what women should wear and not wear according to situations which suit them is violating our rights as humans and is quite jarring,” said another girl, who wore a pastel pink scarf around her neck.
Sleepy stood there trying to comprehend the situation. The group of women didn’t pay heed to an unknown entity who was among them out of nowhere and they also completely overlooked or might have forgotten what Sleepy had asked them.
Sleepy made his way deeper into the group and was able to hold the attention of a woman who had no scarf around her neck or head but was there to support other women facing such indiscrimination. After all, a woman should support another woman. There is nothing worse than a woman being an enemy to another woman in a patriarchal society but seems like there are plenty of women out there who are an ally to the patriarchal society. I must say they have been conditioned that way but this woman, not an ally to the patriarchal, misogynistic lot but a believer of sisterhood was there to support her folks.
“How can I help you, Sir? You seem to be lost” asked the girl.
“I am, can you help with the geography of the place and where I am?” enquired Sleepy.
The woman smiled and said, “It is France, Quebec, or India, I guess. A place where, how a woman wears a fabric can trigger anxiety in misogynists”. The group of women didn’t seem to notice the anomalies in Sleepy. He made his way out of the group. “ Wow, the women here are quite feisty and nothing makes me happy than someone who fights for their rights. Looks like they know their way around the world unlike the poor Snow White, that lass didn’t even make an effort to fight her stepmother. I only wish Snow White was as aware as these women out here, but she was a damsel in distress, she needed saving from a so-called prince with who she wasn’t properly acquainted. The thought of Snow White annoys me, though she was sweet to me I was quite unhappy with her choices” uttered Sleepy.
Sleepy picked up a dried leaf from ground, dusted it and gobbled it up. “ Delights like these, I would die for, mate” they said to me. I wasn’t startled I was used to Sleepy’s anomalies. Don’t worry, you will too.
There was satisfaction on Sleepy’s face after their encounter with the group of women. He knew that women like Snow White can no longer be found in this era. They are not damsels in distress, they do not need a man to save them or patronise them. Unlike Snow White, they would be furious if a man touches them without consent.
“I have heard there is a crisis somewhere here. Of course, humans are calling it a war. Little do they understand, war has never been off in the human world but when there is a tiff among white folks, they just call it a war. Ugh, I can never understand the complex hierarchies and prejudices these humans follow. Let us go and find where this huge tiff is happening” stated Sleepy and started walking ahead of me.
Yes, I know Sleepy gave a word to talk to y’all directly by the end but our journey has just begun. Sleepy will definitely give you first-hand gossip before he retires back to the enchanted forest. Oh, his pace is accelerating as the days pass by, I need to rush.
∎
